Kale, cauliflower, and broccoli

I'm currently trying out Kurt's zucchini recipe and I thought I should share that I think adding olive oil and parmesan makes all vegetables better really.  Baking kale drizzled in olive oil with salt and parmesan basically turns gross kale into delicious potato chip like things.  Chopped up cauliflower with olive oil, salt, parmesan, and lemon juice is amazing.  Or if you put some butter, parmesan, and bread crumbs all over the top of a head of cauliflower and bake it in the oven, it also turns out pretty tasty.

And I know we're not supposed to say things like we like vegetables plain because they're so delicious, but have you ever just stir fried broccoli in olive oil?  Somehow steaming, boiling, pretty much anything you do to broccoli makes it somewhat gross to me, but stir frying it to the point where it's almost burning gives it little crispy edges and with some salt, it's strangely delicious.

Anyway, I just wanted to do some vegetable promotion because I think we all need inspiration in that department.  I'm working on operation make veggies delicious this summer so I'll try to keep it up.

Grilled corn, avocado, and tomato salad with honey lime dressing

This salad is pretty amazing and I've decided to start using this dressing on everything I eat.

Ingredients:
1 pint grape tomatoes
1 ripe avocado
2 ears of fresh sweet corn

Honey lime dressing:
Juice of 1 lime
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp honey
sea salt and pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
dash of cayenne pepper

Directions:
Remove husks from corn and grill over medium heat for 10 minutes, or if you're lazy like me, just stir fry some frozen corn.  Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing together.  Combine the sliced tomatoes, avocado, and grilled corn with the dressing and mix gently so everything is combined but you don't mash the avocados.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes to let the dressing soak in.

PS Heidi - I just added some quinoa to the salad because obviously I always have to make weird customizations and I thought it would make it more filling (plus didn't add the avocado out until lunchtime so it wouldn't get brown) and just had a delicious lunch out of it.

Hummus

I thought this recipe made a good hummus.

http://www.inspiredtaste.net/15938/easy-and-smooth-hummus-recipe/

I am mostly posting this so I remember it!!!  I will be making it again.

Thai Basil Chicken

I made Thai basil chicken tonight and it was pretty delicious - super easy to make and not spicy (unless you want it to be) or scary in any way.  Here's the recipe and pictures - pretty advanced, I know...

Ingredients

10 ounces chicken breast or thighs, boneless and skinless
1/2 medium bell pepper (green or red), cut into 1/2-inch squares
5 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
6 fresh hot chiles, roughly chopped (obviously not necessary if you don't like it spicy)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce (or hoisin sauce - no idea if those are interchangeable but I did it)
2 tablespoons water
20 whole leaves fresh Thai basil
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water

1. Slice the chicken into thin strips. 

2. Pour oil into the cold wok (ok fine--I'm not advanced enough to have a wok so I just use a big frying pan) and add the garlic and chiles (I used some of Kurt's secret hot sauce, which by the way I'm panicking about because I'm down to about a tablespoon and I am very concerned about how I'm going to make my own from here on out). Cook over high heat until the aromas start to release. Add the sliced chicken and stir-fry for about 2 minutes.

3. Add the fish sauce, sugar, and soy sauce and stir-fry for another minute. Add the oyster/hoisin sauce and 2 tablespoons of water and cook for 30 seconds.

4. Add the peppers and 16 of the basil leaves and stir-fry for 2 minutes, until the peppers start to soften.

5. Dissolve the cornstarch in 1 tablespoon of cold water, add to the wok, and stir-fry for 1 minute, until the sauce thickens.

Serve with steamed jasmine rice. 

Green Beans and Zucchini

So far we have focused on the main course. Sides and vegetables (at least in our kitchen) are often considered a necessary evil. This doesn't need to be the case. Since green things are generally loathe in this house, I don't yet have much in the "fun vegetable" department. I realize that they can be made to taste fairly good, and would like more ideas. I'm hoping that this post will serve as a launching pad of sorts. Post comments with any good ideas you may have. The only favor I ask is that no one post anything like "oh my, but broccoli is so delicious just by itself!!" It isn't. If that's your (wrong) opinion, you don't need a recipe and you should just keep your thoughts to yourself.

Tonight we had our standby. Green beans with garlic and balsamic vinegar. There isn't even a recipe, you just steam or boil some green beans until they are not quite done, then fry some diced garlic in olive oil for about 30 seconds. Toss in the beans, cook for another minute on low heat. Put it all on a plate and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar. It's about as easy as it gets, and even Hannah likes it.

Another fun thing to do with beans is to cook them with butter and lemon juice. Again, steam the beans until they are nearly done but still a bit crisp. While they steam, melt some butter in a pan. The amount is about 1 tablespoon of butter per fistful of beans, but it doesn't much matter. any extra will just be left in the pan. When the butter is hot, add a diced clove of garlic. Cook on medium heat for about 30 seconds, then add the beans and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice for each tablespoon of butter. Add a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper and cook until the beans are done to your liking, probably around 2 minutes.

Another go-to is zucchini. Anyone who knows me would have a hard time believing that I eat zucchini, but it's true. The first time I made this Hannah ate the entire zucchini and asked for more. And, as usual, it involves vinegar. It goes like this: wash and slice a zucchini as thin as possible. Line a cookie sheet with foil and smear some olive oil all around. Arrange the slices on the foil and drizzle some olive oil over the top (not much, maybe one drop per slice.) Bake in the oven until they are tender, about 5 minutes. A toaster oven is perfect for this, but I am too lazy to find one on Craigslist.

When they are tender, use a spatula to move them to a plate. They are going to overlap on the plate, which is fine. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar (again, about one drop per) and grate some parmesan cheese over them. Done.

So there are my two thoughts for the day, now come on all you people who aren't even reading this! Let's hear your ideas.

Roux

Roux (pronounced roo) is flour cooked in fat. Very basic, very easy, and very easy to impress your friends with. Flour is a thickening agent, as in it makes liquid thicker, like gravy. It is used in most delicious things, so you should know how to make one. We will talk about it's uses in a few minutes.

There are two reasons we cook flour. First, uncooked flour tastes like, well, uncooked flour. Not good. The second reason is that if you dump flour into liquid, it turns into blobs of glue. Not good.

The reason we use fat is because fat is delicious. Enough said.

Roux is a bit tricky to get right at first, but you can always wash the pan and start over. The trick is to go SLOW. It only takes 5 minutes, so take your time.

The basic process goes like this. Heat a pan over medium heat, add the fat until it is hot, add the flour, and stir. Don't stop stirring for more than a few seconds or it will start to burn. You want the mixture to be bubbling without going crazy and burning.

You will be able to tell when it is done by the color. For most things, you want it to be a tan color. The longer you cook, the darker it gets, but the color of khaki pants is about right for us.

What you do next depends on what you are making, but you will be amazed how often this is used in cooking basic delicious things. If we were to add some beef broth, we would end up with a brown gravy for roast beef, or the base for beef stroganoff or sweedish meatballs. Add milk and sausage and you have biscuits and gravy. Milk and cheese and you have mac and cheese. Chicken or turkey stock and you have chicken or turkey gravy. Add more stock and you have a stew. A little more stock, you have soup. Imagine that, 5 minutes of work and you have a dozen dinners. 

Anyhow, back to the process. Once your roux is a nice tan color, we add our liquid. If you are lazy or ham fisted, this is where you will wreck it. If you go slow, it will work out every time. Let's say we have two cups of liquid to add. If we just dumped it all in at once, the roux would turn to globs of glue and we would ruin everything. The trick is to add the liquid slowly, stirring with a whisk the entire time. Don't stop stirring!

Before we go on, I want to warn you. This next step happens fast. You can't take time to measure things out. Don't worry though, it doesn't require any expertise. Hannah is 11 years old now, has made a roux a thousand times, and has never screwed up once. All we are going to do is add a splash of liquid every few seconds and never, ever, ever stop stirring.

At first, add a splash of liquid, maybe a few tablespoons. It will quickly turn to paste while you stir. Once the liquid is soaked up, add another splash. Stir until the liquid and the roux blend thoroughly. As you continue to add liquid and stir, it will turn into a smooth paste. Don't add liquid until the paste is smooth. Also, don't add more liquid until the roux is bubbling again. You don't want the pan to cool down. When it becomes a paste, you can start to add more liquid each time. Stir until you can't tell the difference between the roux and the liquid. When it looks more like liquid than roux, dump the rest of the liquid in and stir for a few seconds.

Notes: if your roux seems lumpy, keep stirring until smooth before you add more liquid. Also, the first few times you make a roux, it might help to heat up your liquid first, as this will makes lumps less likely.

Mac and cheese fight

Mac and cheese is comfort food that is sure to make you obese and lead to your early demise. Like everything else, it will make your life more happy while you waddle your way into an over-sized casket at the ripe old age of 42.

Meagan posted our one pot mac and cheese recipe (that one is not ours, link to follow soon), and it has brought us much pleasure. But I want to fight about it. That recipe is soooo last week.

We have a new recipe, and it is all Hannah's. The problem with the one pot method is that we are not good cooks. We were having a problem with the mac and cheese coming out a sloppy mess. It was often like eating paste. This method is much more fool proof.

First, we make a roux (super easy, see the next post.) Add the milk (read the post on roux before you do this), bring to a low boil for 2 minutes, add the cheese and cook for 1 more minute. Add to cooked pasta (cook pasta in a separate pot.) Done. The sauce takes less time than boiling pasta. Dinner in less than 15 minutes.

This recipe will serve 2-4 people, depending on what else is being served. To serve more, just double it.

2 tbsp. olive oil or butter
2 tbsp. flour
1 1/4 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste (for kids use less pepper, for adults more)
1 cup(ish) grated cheese

A few notes. First, cheese is important. Don't buy grated cheese in a bag. It has no flavor, and is expensive. Spend some money, buy good cheese, and grate it yourself. We use a mixture of cheddar (always), gruyere (always), parmesan, or whatever is in the fridge. Add 1/2 of the cheese and taste. Add more until it is cheesy enough for you, but not so much that you make it into paste.

Second, the pasta. Since this is not a proper recipe, I don't know the amount. I always make too much, but since pasta is so cheap I don't care to measure. Don't just pour all the pasta you cooked into the sauce. The way we do it is to put as much pasta as we want into a bowl, then add the amount of sauce we want. Stir and eat.

What type of pasta you use almost makes no difference. We used to buy elbow macaroni, then we got lazy. Now we just use whatever pasta we have in the freezer. Usually it is fettuccine, so I just cut it into bite sized pieces and boil it up.